Jörg Fedtke, the A.N. Yiannopoulos Professor in Comparative Law and Co-Director of the Eason Weinmann Center for International and Comparative Law, is part of an international effort to support regional politicans and civil servants in developing a more responsible and constructive system of administration and good governance in the troubled region of Kirkuk, Iraq. The first workshop took place in Broummana near Beirut, Lebanon and brought together members of the Regional Council, the Deputy Governor, and representatives of Kirkuk in the National Assembly. As a first result participants were able to agree on the so-called Beirut Initiative, a set of common aims mainly in the area of regional economic development. The 18-month project is funded by the German Foreign Office and organized by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation (FNS).